I've been filling my summer with books, particularly the ones about career development/exploration. I know there that there is no one set recipe for succeeding or doing well after high school, but it sure would be nice to know what people think of as recipes of success and whether I can see myself implement some of their advice. Right now, I'm going through this journey blindly like many others my age. It's pure curiosity, and I'm sure my bringing up these books in review form will tap into yours.

Donald Asher's
How to Get Any Job with Any Major contains three parts.
The first part covers the general topics such as defining career development from getting a job, exploring what you might truly enjoy doing, and several alternatives to working such as volunteering, teaching English, the military, Peace Corps, etc. It's meant for people who have already graduated from high school, university, or need time to explore what else is out there. I don't think this section should have been 100 pages. It was stuffed with aptitude-like quizzes, introspection and emotional reassurance of "you can fix a bad career anytime." It's not unnecessary, but I just don't think it required a third of the book.
The second part is devoted to those who are currently in post-secondary school and advising how to make the best out of those years. Asher emphasizes internships, job shadowing, networking, and volunteering as sources of exploring whether what you wanted to do was really what you thought it was. For example, interning at a kitchen to find out you can't work under pressure as a chef or to find that you are stronger as a manager. He also throws in the pros and cons of more education (advanced degrees and graduate studies) and the high-risk entrepreneurial option. I thought the way he introduced volunteering and internship was convincing. I used to hear about it all the time, but vaguely and as surface advice. Here he actually goes in a little more depth about how to identify good internships from bad ones. I thought it was nice that these ideas were presented, because before this I thought there was no way you could know what a career was really like unless you were a high-achiever and got into a co-op program, or until after you've graduated and got an entry-level job. I really thought that it was the only way and I was doomed! This section gave me hope that there are ways and strategies to find out what is out there.
The third part is about job hunting and troubleshooting the job search. I found these sections really ordinary, meaning, I've seen these before in many other job hunting books. Don't be late for an interview. If you really want a job, you'll devote all your waking hours to finding one. Send thank you notes. Don't try to be funny. Use "the 36-hour rule" to follow up. What is this, dating? This advice is so obvious and condescending and he blames failures on our own laziness and lack of effort. The person writing this book already has a job and doesn't actively search for jobs. He doesn't know what he's talking about, really.
As a whole, it was not a good book. I was getting snobbish overtones from this author, even though, yeah, we need ass-kicking for something like this. He also sprinkles in a lot of "case studies" or supposedly real-life experiences of people with successful happy endings to give readers some hope that "it could happen to you too!" The book as a resource to help find a job is terrible. Too many "do this, don't do that." The presenting of ideas to explore careers is great, and encourages readers to not be picky but still be selective so that we obtain some transferable skills. Still, I think I would've just ripped out part 1 and 3 and kept part 2 to pass onto someone. So, I give this book a
33.333%. For obvious reasons.
I'd also like to note: don't buy these books. These types of books are not things you'd go back every so often to reference. You're only going to be a fresh graduate once or twice in your life time. Secondly, the advice can become very dated. Just borrow them from the library. Your tax dollars go into funding it! Use it!